RIA Washington Wealth Adds Two Teams, Hits $1B in Recruited Assets

The independent hybrid RIA is led by ex-wirehouse reps and uses LPL Financial as a broker-dealer.

Share with Email

sending now...

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

San Diego-based Washington Wealth Management, an independent hybrid RIA that uses LPL Financial (LPLA) as a broker-dealer, said early Wednesday that it recruited two large FA teams to its wealth platform: California Wealth Transitions and Overlake Partners. For Washington Wealth, this means more than $1 billion in recruited assets under management in 2012, a jump of 900% over the past 12 months vs. $100 million in recruited AUM in 2011.

“We are delighted that both California Wealth Transitions and Overlake Partners have chosen to partner with us,” said Washington Wealth CEO Rob Bartenstein (left), in a press release. “Each group is singularly unique, comprised of driven, successful professionals who share our vision of the value our firm can add to independent financial advisor teams.”

Washington Wealth says that it was founded by several former wirehouse employees, such as Bartenstein, who worked for Merrill Lynch (BAC). It also targets wirehouse and former-wirehouse advisors for its platform.

“At WWM, we recognize that independence is the target but freedom is the goal,” Bartenstein said. “In addition, our directors in the field are actively working with all of our teams to identify opportunities for growth, whether one client at a time, or by wholesale acquisition of other practices.”

The two wealth-management groups joining its platform are based on the West Coast: Overlake Partners of Bellevue, Wash., and California Wealth Transitions of San Diego.

Overlake is led by John Wilbourne, who has 18-plus years of industry experience and was most recently with Wells Fargo Advisors (WFC). The president of California Wealth is Keith Brandt, who has nearly 30 years in the business, including time at Merrill Lynch.

“Years of operating within the wirehouse model have made us appreciate the value of teaming with a strategic partner whose execution of service and support offerings give practices the freedom to fully focus on their client relationships while developing their own distinctive brands within the industry,” said Wilbourne, in a statement.

Washington Wealth’s platform includes an independent Registered Investment Advisor, a nonaffiliated broker-dealer and a multi-custodian offering. In addition to San Diego, it has offices in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, Miami, Westport, Conn., and Middelburg, Va.

“These newly added practices represent the conclusion of an outstanding recruiting year for Washington Wealth Management,” said Bartenstein. “As we head into 2013, we look forward to continuing our remarkable track record of robust recruiting and AUM growth by continuing to provide advisor teams that choose our platform with an extraordinary level of support and service that is second to none in our industry.”

Janet Levaux

Janet Levaux, MA/MBA, is Editor in Chief of "Investment Advisor" magazine; she has covered the financial markets since 1991 and advisors since 2005.

ThinkAdvisor

Free unlimited access to ThinkAdvisor.com which provides advisors, like you, with comprehensive coverage of the products, services and trends necessary to guide your clients in making critical wealth, health and life decisions.

Exclusive discounts on ALM and ThinkAdvisor events.

Access to other award-winning ALM websites including TreasuryandRisk.com and Law.com.